74 PKOCEEDINGS OF THIC 



Sieqeshechia orientalis is an erect, branclied annual herb, one oi: 

 the Compositae, growing about 3 feet high, be.iring opposite, 

 broadly triangular, coarsely toothed leaves. The flowers are 

 insignificant, yellow in colonr, the ray florets strap-shaped and 

 pistil-bearing, the disk florets being tubular and perfect. It is 

 quite hardy and bears seeds abundantly. 



The bitter principle of the plant was discovered in 1885 by 

 M. Auffray, and named Darutyne ; a specimen of the white crys- 

 talline scales was shown in the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, 

 London, 1886 (' Pharmacographia Indica"). 



I should be glad if this note brings forth any further informa- 

 tion from the Fellows of this Society who have come across it and 

 have seen it used for any specific purpose. 



Lieut.-Col. Prain, Director of Kew, has very kindly lent me tlie 

 dried specimens and the painting ; the latter will probably be of 

 more use than the former, in showing the main features of the 

 plant. 



II. 



The Ornamentation of the Frog Tadpole {Rana ienq^oravia). 

 By Nina P. Layaeb, P.L.S. 



[Read 7th March, 1907.] 



"When the young tadpole frees itself from its jelly covering it is 

 entirely black, but by the time it is ten days old, or possibly 

 before, gold spots begin to appear sparsely sprinkled over the 

 dusky skin. Very rapid changes in coloration then begin to take 

 place, and the following notes are from a daily diary kept while 

 these appearances were being carefully observed. 



On the tenth day after the tadpole had broken away from its 

 envelope, a thin sprinkling of gold spots was observed. At first 

 the spots are disposed singly and in no apparent order, except 

 that on the upper part of the ridge of the tail they form a more 

 or less regular line. There were more spots on the upper than 

 on under part of the tadpole, and a few, perhaps three or four, 

 irregularly scattered over the eye. 



On the eleventh day the spots had increased in nulnber, and by 

 the twelfth were alternately arranged in two lines on the ridge 

 of the tail, and were thickly sprinkled over the eye. On the 

 thirteenth and fourteenth days the only noticeable change was a 

 slight yellowness about the nose. Two days afterwards, when 

 the tadpole was sixteen days old, a sudden and curious change 

 was observed in the eye. The spots had cleared away from the 

 centre, and now formed a golden iris, arranged in perfect order, 

 though a few were still sprinkled over the ball outside the 

 iris. At the same time, the lines of spots on the ridge of 

 the tail had broken up into groups composed gf three or four 



